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3d printed gears question.

Posted: Sun May 22, 2022 6:17 pm
by Stojan
Hey G'day people,

I'm 3d printing an orrery which of course involves Gears. Imagine... lol..

My question is for those that print gears with an FDM printer (I could do this with my resin printer but I like to do it the hard way).
How are most of you printing the gears, with a rim/brim/raft?

If I print using my resin printer gears are perfect every time, only problem that I come across with resin is warping. I need to find some high tensile resin to try that out and see if that is subject to warping.

The post processing is murderous, printing large gears isnt an issue but printing fine gears seems to be, particularly with curling of the tips.
If I print a brim its not an issue but then the post processing and peeling off the brim becomes a pain.

What I would like to do Ideally somewhere along the line is buy some involute gear cutters and set up my rotary axis to make gears using brass. But I haven't found a method/shaft that I can use with my spindle to accomplish that yet.

Any tips and suggestions would be appreciated.

I never knew chasing my own tail could be so much fun :P

Cheers and greetings from the colonies downunder.

Re: 3d printed gears question.

Posted: Mon May 23, 2022 8:41 am
by ArtF
HI:

I dont use a raft myself and they usually work out fine. I use an anycubic Mega and they are pretty good.

If you really want brass, Gearotic will put out 4th axis toolpathing with just milling straight flutes required.. ( or is height the issue? , if
so a slitting saw may work out for you... Gearotics paths will work on a slit saw..

Art

Re: 3d printed gears question.

Posted: Tue May 24, 2022 7:54 pm
by Stojan
Hey Art G'day,

Appreciate your reply,

I worked out my issue with the 3d printing I was just going to fast. I slowed my initial layer down to 10 from 40 increased the temperature but a few degrees and coming out perfectly.

I've tried milling and I just get crappy results and for the larger gears I don't really think its an option.

I have a nice space for the 4th axis I have room to put in pieces of whatever 8 inchs in diameter.

A slitting saw you say, ok I will investigate that. Is there any reason why not to buy a set of Involute cutters? I need a straight half inch shaft for my spindle and an attachment for the cutters. I would need some type of shaft and attachment for a slitting saw as well.

If you have any links/youtube I could follow would be great, I will dr google as well.

TY for your time

Re: 3d printed gears question.

Posted: Wed May 25, 2022 8:05 am
by ArtF
Hi Stojan:

Try https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv77x7I1qQs , a slit saw output can be done as well, which is basically the same output on
the proper axis for a slitsaw.

art

Re: 3d printed gears question.

Posted: Fri May 27, 2022 6:43 pm
by steve323
I 3D print many clock gears with good results. No raft or brim. Use elephant foot compensation so the bottom surface is good. Otherwise, you may need to spend a few minutes per gear filing off the elephant foot.